Drone Racing Becomes ESPN’s Next Television Bet

ESPN has decided to enter one of the next frontiers in the sports industry: drone racing.

The “The Worldwide Leader” which has been at the forefront of other non-traditional programming like eSports announced a multi-year agreement with the Drone Racing League on Wednesday. ESPN will have distribution rights in North, South and Central America in addition to the Caribbean. European outlets Sky Sports Mix and 7Sports will also have broadcast rights.

“Coverage of DRL lets us merge storytelling, technology and competition into compelling weekly content that we believe will appeal to a growing audience,” Matthew Volk, ESPN Director, Programming & Acquisitions, said in a statement. “We look forward to delivering events and programming to passionate fans of this emerging sport.”

Last month, ESPN became involved with drone racing when it streamed live the Drone Racing Association championship on the network’s digital properties.

The 2016 season of the ESPN and Drone Racing League partnership kicks off Thursday night with an hour-long “Intro to DRL” episode on ESPN2 at 11 p.m. EST. The remaining nine episodes then continue on Oct. 23 on ESPN/ESPN2.

Not only will ESPN follow the racing, but also it will also document how some of the pilots became involved with the sport, their backgrounds and family lives.

The 2016 series will see 25 pilots racing their drones at upwards of 80 miles per hour through obstacle-filled courses in the cities of Los Angeles, Detroit, Miami and others, with the winner receiving a contract to compete in the 2017 season.

According to Nicholas Horbaczewski, Chief Executive and Founder of the League, “It’s an exciting, real-life experience mixed with video-gamelike dynamics. These races are short sprints. It has that thrill of a 100-meter dash or horse racing.”

Early investors in the League include RSE Ventures — a sports and entertainment venture capital firm co-founded by Miami Dolphins owner, Stephen Ross — along with Lux Capital and Sky Sports Mix.